Pushing through winter!

My photos aren't uploading tonight, so I'll just give a quick update! Dan is out of town again, Elijah has been sick for the past couple days and we are trudging through winter. Honestly, it has not been the most positive start to the year emotionally and health-wise, but we're hoping for a turnaround very soon!

Tonight the boys and I did our standard Friday pizza-movie night together and we snuggled up like crazy on the couch. Afterward we had a silly dance party that Sammy in particular thought was a riot. It ended with him leaning over to kiss me on the cheek. I turned my head at the last second, which caused his smooch to land on my lips. He said, "HEY! You gave me LIPS, lady!" The three of us laughed for five minutes straight. These boys crack me up!

Elijah has had borderline croup for the past two nights, but nothing bad enough to get him up to take medicine for (THANK GOODNESS). He threw up at school yesterday and stayed home with me today. Sammy hasn't felt 100% all week, but has pushed through his week. I woke up this morning with a sore throat and headache. This week I started making spinach smoothies again, which I'm hoping will help to boost our immune systems! Darn winter!

Both boys have started chess class and I think it's so good for Sammy to be a part of that now with his brother. School has been going well for both boys. Sammy got ALL Es on his report card this week (Exceeds grade level) and Elijah is doing GREAT, as well (he now gets the ABCDF scale in 4th grade and has done better than we had hoped). We were so proud of both boys!

My cuties and I have some fun things planned for our weekend! Hopefully you do, too! Thanks for checking in.

Boys on skis

Elijah started skiing with the Courage Kenny program and he is rocking it! Last year he made such huge progress with snowboarding, so I figured skiing would be great to try. His instructor is AMAZING and I could not have asked for a better match. He instantly made a genuine connection with E and understood that getting him down the hill and on the chairlift needed to happen asap in order to alleviate anxiety. That boy skied down an entire hill 2 or 3 times on the first day (with assistance, but still so cool).

My silly boys have been in such a creative zone lately. I love watching them play and seeing how their little minds work. I'm so grateful that they have each other and that they (usually) love spending time together. Last night I walked into the bathroom after bath to find that they had transformed into Frankensteins.

I bought a used pair of skis and boots from a friend and put them on Sammy this week. This is a HUGE huge deal since he's been declaring for years that he would "never ever ever" go skiing. First step was our yard. Next we'll try a bunny hill and magic carpet. :)

The boys have their daily moments, but for the most part have been doing so well. Elijah has had many great days in school and overall has had great days at home, too. I've been in my usual post-holiday funk but hopefully will get my head above water soon. That's all I've got for now! Thanks for stopping by!

Love is in the house

It has been sad to say good-bye to winter break. I LOVED the precious time I got to spend with my boys and I was secretly so sad to drop them off at school on Tuesday morning after spending two and a half weeks together. Having my cuties within earshot and arm's length makes me a happy mama. There is certainly value in them going to school, but I adore my time with them. They won't be "little" forever so I relish every moment I can get.

Over break my boys decided it was time to watch Star Wars! We watched the first three movies together over the weekend and we all enjoyed them. The boys asked a TON of questions (so many that it was hard to hear what was being said most of the time) and they are excited about the next few. 

Sammy and Elijah have both lost teeth over the past few days, but Sammy's loss has added an extra lisp to his already cute lisp. I just love it when those top front teeth go missing. The cuteness is almost too much to handle.

Since break, Sammy has been extra into Mommy (lucky me!). Every morning (after getting dressed of course, because his is Mr. Responsible & Organized) the first thing he does is crawl into bed with me, usually after asking, "Anyone want some Sammy snuggles?!" And this is when the I-love-yous begin for the day. Lately he's been saying, "I love you more than you love me!" And I say, "Not possible!" And he says, "Always possible!" Repeat about 100 times. I love it!

While I'm on the Sammy topic, he has shown such incredible determination lately. This fall Elijah took a chess class at school and became really good at it. Sammy saw this and decided he needed to learn, too, so he watched his brother play and within a couple days he knew all the rules and could hold his own. I thought this was impressive! Then the other morning he decided that he needed to learn how to play the recorder since Elijah knows how. He asked E to teach him the notes and within 15 minutes could read music for and play Jingle Bells. Nice work, Sammy!

We are coming up on the time of year when we see a bunch of Elijah's specialists. Next week brings a couple appointments and we expect everything to check out fine. We have seen improvements in some areas and regression in others (like following directions). Sometimes I have to stop and remember all that he has overcome. It's amazing to consider how well he is doing in spite of the many big hurdles he has had to leap over! We are super blessed and have two amazing boys!

Elijah starts SKIING tomorrow, wooo! I'm buying Sammy a used pair of skis and boots tomorrow so we'll see if I can get them onto his feet without too much fuss. I hope you all have a warm weekend!